Check Finds No Problem With Asbestos

Performances Will Be Held At Gloucester High School

January 12, 1989|By BOB KEMPER Staff Writer

GLOUCESTER — A third test at Gloucester High School showed there is no problem with asbestos as previously believed, which will save the school division about $82,800 and allow scheduled stage performances to be held.

School officials were first told in November there was hazardous asbestos over the high school stage after a federally required asbestos inspection was done in all of the division's buildings.

Asbestos had been found in many of the buildings, but the material at the high school, believed to be flaking cancer-causing particles into the air, was deemed the most serious.

To prevent potential problems, school officials declared the auditorium off limits, canceling a school play and forcing the resheduling of a community concert.

"I'm sorry we had to close the auditorium, but we had no choice," said Superintendent Robert L. Mitchell.

Facing a lengthy closing of the auditorium and the large cost of removing asbestos, the division scheduled more tests.

"It's like when someone tells you you need bypass surgery. You want to get a second opinion before you do something as drastic as that," Mitchell said.

Additional air samples were taken, and eventually another set of tests was done on the material. The latest tests, which involved taking 19 samples compared with the single sample taken during the first tests, showed there was no hazard.

With the apparent clean bill of health granted by the new tests, events slated for the rest of the year in the auditorium are expected to go on as scheduled, according to Principal Glenith Whitaker. The auditorium was reopened Tuesday.

The new findings also will save the division $82,800 in removal costs. The School Board had asked the Board of Supervisors to provide the additional money, but Mitchell said the request would be withdrawn. The division will still need about $27,000 from the supervisors for testing and development of a plan outlining how the division will deal with asbestos found in its buildings.

Asbestos found in other buildings is not an immediate hazard, school officials have said. The material is in a stable condition - on pipes above a suspended ceiling or in wax-covered floor tiles.